Employment and entrepreneurship nexus in developing countries

Entrepreneurship is associated with job creation and is seen as an effective way to reduce unemployment. In addition to the changing impacts of entrepreneurial activities on unemployment and employment, the determinants of entrepreneurship also vary across countries. In this study, the existing literature on the main determinants of entrepreneurship is investigated by focusing on the cases of the developing countries. The 2010-2022 data on entrepreneurship and employment/unemployment indicators are together assessed with literature building on the nexus between entrepreneurship and employment/unemployment for selected developing countries. In the study, while assessing countries' performances comparatively, entrepreneurship is represented by the Total Entrepreneurship Activity (TEA), which is one of the indices of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM), while unemployment is indicated by unemployment rate. The data shows that, in general, the entrepreneurship activities are relatively higher in Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia, Ecuador, Taiwan, Türkiye, and Chile, while unemployment rates are relatively higher in South Africa, Iran, Colombia, Egypt, and Türkiye. When these trends in data are combined with the main results of the relevant literature, it can be concluded that entrepreneurship and employment variables are closely related but the nexuses between them tend to change depending on many external and internal factors of countries.